Dream
by AKimiB
Summary: A peek inside the mind of our very own heroine as she tries to get through another day. Will she hold on, or will she crumble? 'Ken Returns' fluff-ish... One-shot.


DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely nothing.  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: No flames please! I just did this as a little break from my Ouran Haru/Neko sequel. I needed something a little less deep. Heh. Well, I hope you enjoy!

The alarm blared, shaking her senses and stealing her away from the one thing that made her feel good. Ken. He plagued her dreams from the moment his tear-filled eyes pleaded with her to wait for him.

She absent-mindedly reached for the teddy-bear that occupied the pillow next to hers, giving it a squeeze before sighing deeply and stretching her body.

Another day to go it alone. Another day to deal with Amber and her bitch-crew. Another day to receive the angry unsatisfied glares of Castiel. Another day to not meet the expectations of work-a-holic Nathaniel. To ward off being dragged out shopping or talk about games non-stop with the twins and to find that damn notebook that Lysander keeps misplacing.

Another day without chocolate cookie-filled walks and blatant appreciation from the adorably nerdy Ken. Her Ken.

Candy looked through her impressive closet with a scrutinizing eye, softening on the peices of the last outfit she wore with him. Letting a small smile grace her features, she nodded grabbing her outfit of the day. If this little action would help her to feel closer to Ken, so be it. Candy walked to Sweet Amoris High in higher spirits than she had in the last few months.

Candy stood in front of her open locker, the mirror inside a blessing. Somehow she had walked out of her home without even the swipe of a brush. _The horror!_ Frantic dainty finger combed through small tangles of her lustrous black hair. It was really volumous today, not in a good way. Twisting the cap of her spare water bottle, she wet her hands and patted the tresses willing them to behave.

Narrowing golden-brown eyes at her reflection she scoffed and gave up, reaching for her books and securing the cap to the water she slammed the locker.

An odd sight assaulted her when she turned for class. There, in the center of the wide hall, Amber was being kissed as if she were the heroine of some dreamy nonsensical romance novel. But something about the vision unnerved Candy.

Cold and heavy the knot was, forming in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't tear her eyes away. The mystery boy's hands were tenderly grasping the sides of the blonde girl's face, caressing her, tilting her head to bring her in deeper. Amber's knees were visibly weakening as the tall brunette's plump lips claimed hers, fiercely, with almost punishing force. It was quite impressive, but Candy couldn't shake the feeling she had.

It hurt. It hurt her deep and badly. _Is it because I don't like her? Because she doesn't deserve some epic once in a lifetime fling? Jealousy?_

Whatever it was, it won out. Candy turned on her heels, running with as much speed her body could produce, through the obnoxiously pink doors, out into the abandoned courtyard and ending at the shelves of brilliantly colored daisies and poppies, roses and ferns of the Gardening Club.

She sunk against the wood, staring out with unseeing eyes. _That's what it is... I feel alone._

A mirthless chuckle escaped her throat in place of the sobs that threatened to escape. _And here I am, in the last outfit I wore with him sitting in the last club I shared with him... _Her eyes clenched shut at the thought, burning, welling. _Why couldn't I tell him? Why couldn't I just let him know?_

She opened her glassy gaze up to the cloudless sky, a hot trail trickled down her sorrow flushed cheeks.

"I miss you, Ken. Come back to me... Please?" Rough and low was her voice before it cracked into a whisper. "I love you."

Her brown eyes shut again, thinking of what could have been as she grabbed fists full of the grass to her sides, trying to hold on to reality and to not let her dreams lead her to disappointment.

Candy's eyes snapped open at the distinct crunching of grass approaching. Footsteps. Someone would find her here, and she would be an utter mess. _Great._

Tousled brown hair, a megawatt smile and dogtags clanking met her fleeting red-rimmed glare.

"You... You're the guy that was kissing Amber, huh?" Candy choked out, trying but failing to keep the bitterness from her timbre. "Sorry... I'm Candy... And I'm a mess. I guess I should be glad that even someone like her has someone..."

He stopped in his tracks, brows furrowing in confusion at her words his smile fell.

"You have your information mixed up, maybe you should check with all your sources before coming to conclusions." He smirked a little, softening his gaze upon the obviously troubled female he moved to her and sat next to her. She closed her eyes again, sighing and scooted to the side, away from him in the slightest. She wouldn't look at him, she couldn't. He had just happily made out with the biggest bitch of the school... She wouldn't hold it against him, she just wouldn't look at him.

"What do you mean?" The question came out bored, uninspired. She wasn't really down for investigating anyone's love life right now. She couldn't even get hers straight.

"It was revenge." His amused tone didn't go unnoticed, though instead of laughing as he would have expected, she rolled her skyward eyes and sighed again. "What's got a pretty girl like you down?"

She visibly flinched at the compliment and he cocked his head. _What happened to her? Where did her confidence go? Her curiosity? Her happiness? She's like a fricken ghost. _

He bit his lip, waiting for her reply. He could tell she wasn't comfortable in his presence, every move he made she'd counter with another away. His heart clenched in his chest painfully, like being stabbed at with invisible knives. Twisting and jabbing, the organ drawing tight to get away.

"I lost someone I... just miss him is all." She scoffed lightly at her understatement and buried her face in hands she didn't know were trembling. "I never got to confess to him, it's impossible now."

Just like that, his pain subsided leaving a fluttering warm heat to grow and spread through his chest to his extremities, tingling, torrid, tickling. The feeling rushed all of his senses making him want to laugh and cry at the same time. Then a freezing slap from the hand of reality stopped him in his mental tracks.

"...What was his name?" His voice was gritty, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. He averted emerald eyes to a particularly interesting blade of grass, watching the tiniest of sugar ants scale the green tower.

"Ken." His named rolled from her mouth in a breathy whisper, igniting all the nerves of his flesh with freezing heat and volts electricity. It was involuntary and it's presence would not be banished, the boy smiled like a fool. Hard. The muscles in his face and neck ached furiously with his attempts to not giggle.

He turned toward the dejected female, still buried into her own palms, and placed his hand on her petite shoulder.

"Look at me." His tone was deep, serious, demanding but happy. It wrapped around her, soothed her and completed her. It was familiar and strange. She couldn't deny him. Her hands fell to her lap and she cricked her face to the side to look at the boy beside her.

It felt like the world stood still, time slowed and her heart stopped beating. Those eyes, sage and joyous reflected her as only one other set ever had. His smile gleamed at her, she covered her slack-jawed shuddering gasp. Her eyes wide and darting over every part of him. She both giggled and sobbed when she launched her self into his arms for a hug she'd waited months for: without his voice, his smile, his laugh, his love. He was home and in her arms.

His arms slid around her shuddering frame, wrapping her up tightly, willing the pressure to convey how much he missed her, how much he loved her... everything that he wanted to say.

He would have been content staying like that forever but when she pulled back, he loosened his arms to allow her to move.

Her hands moved from their position of the hug sliding up his hot neck to his head, dainty fingers tangled themselves in his chestnut locks. Fisting the strands and pulling him in. She accosted his lips with her own, tasting him, memorizing him with tenacious eagerness. Pulling on his lower lip, she ran her tongue over its soft curve. He groaned at the feel of her granting her access, but taking control. He loved her for years, unable to tell her straight out he hoped she'd understand. He battled her tongue with his, stroking her, feeling her intimately, claiming her.

Their lungs protested the need for air, and they broke head to head. Resting, staring, praying that this wasn't just another dream.

Please read and review! Like it? Say so! Hate it? *Constructive* critique! But please, nothing rude... I'm a sensitive soul. :)


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